[Symposium 38] Cultural Competence - essential skills for mental professionals

[SY-38] Cultural Competence – essential skills for mental professionals

Itsuo Asai¹, Kenneth Fung², Jaswant Guzder³, Byamah Brian Mutamba⁴, Syuichi Katsuragawa⁵ (1.Heart Clinic Medical Corporation(Japan), 2.University of Toronto(United States of America), 3.MacGill University(Australia), 4.Butabika Hospital(Uganda), 5.Toho University School of Medicine(Japan))

Keywords:

Cultural Competency,Mental Health Services,Transcultural Psychiatry,Health Equity,Health Communication

Training in cultural competence, an essential skill and system for mental health practitioners, is not always included in the training content of mental health professionals in many countries. Do you all know what it is?Broadly speaking, cultural competence refers to the ability to interact appropriately with, understand and work effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds.This symposium will explore what cultural competence is and how it needs to be addressed in the future. We hope that your understanding of cultural competence will be useful in your clinical and research work.First, Professor Kenneth Fung from the University of Toronto, Canada, one of the countries with the most advanced research and social systems for transcultural psychiatry, will give a presentation entitled 'Promoting Mental Health Equity through Cultural Competence', defining it and explaining what hinders its realization. Barriers to its implementation, its adaptation to clinical situations and an overview of social structural issues will be presented. Next, Professor Jaswant Gazder from MacGill University, Canada, will discuss 'Interpreters in culturally competent care: Canadian Clinical Contexts' and the development of interpreters' cultural understanding skills to overcome language barriers. Thirdly, Dr Byamah Mutamba from Uganda will discuss 'Developing culturally appropriate messages for mental health promotion; the role of alternate care providers' from Africa, where psychiatric resources are extremely scarce. His presentation on 'Alternative care providers' will give concrete examples of how to gain understanding of mental disorders among local healers. Finally, Professor Katsuragawa from Toho University School of Medicine, Japan, will present 'Cultural competence: the changing social perceptions from stigmatization to understanding of mental health issues in Japan in recent years'.The ability to interact with, understand and respond appropriately to the conflicts and relationships between patients and the cultures of the society to which they belong and the cultures of their counterparts.